Re: Bearded
clam

: : I looked around using Google and found just a little
information. A mollusk called the bearded clam lives in the Mediterranean Sea
and was also listed among Korean exports. I didn't find a picture of it. I'm guessing
that part of its body forms a fringe that might protrude from its shell. Any shellfish
experts here?

: I'm hardly an expert but I do have some books on the topic and
I haven't found any mention of a bearded clam. Several bivalves such as scallops
have a fringe of tentacles resembling a beard around the edge of both shells.
Others, such as mussels, attach themselves to hard surfaces by a bysus - a bundle
of hair-like threads often referred to as a beard.

Again, no crustacean expert,
but there is a bearded clam and it does have a dark fringe of tendrils around
the slit. It's no wonder it got used as a comparison. the bearded clam was quite
well-known in England, even though it is apparently mediterranean.